Bruxism, commonly known as tooth grinding, is the clenching together of the bottom and upper jaw accompanied by the grinding of the lower set of teeth with the upper set. Bruxism affects between 10-50% of the population. Although bruxism can occur during the waking hours, bruxism most frequently occurs at night while sleeping. During sleep, the biting force (the force at which the jaws clench together) can be up to six times greater than the pressure during waking hours. Consequently, nighttime bruxism is more likely to cause significant damage.
Bruxism can lead to pain and cause damage to gums and other oral structures including: sore facial muscles, headaches, and ear-aches; cosmetic damage to teeth; sensitive teeth; fractured teeth and fillings; and temperomandibular joint damage. The muscles used to chew food are the same ones responsible for bruxism. Consequently, the chewing muscles often feel sore or tender in the morning. The clenching may make the jaw feel tight or may cause pain when the sides of the mouth are touched. Often this muscle pain manifests itself as a headache, ear-ache, or neck pain. Bruxism can cause the teeth to be ground down becoming significantly shortened and creating cosmetic damage. As the enamel of the tooth is worn away by bruxism the underlying dentin layer of the tooth is exposed and the tooth may become sensitive to cold, pressure, and other stimuli. The high pressure created from bruxism can fracture teeth and crack fillings. Bruxism can cause damage to the temperomandibular joint, which is the “hinge” which connects the lower jaw to the upper jaw allowing people to chew and talk.
Prior art dental appliances and mouth guards have attempted to reduce the complications associated with bruxism. The mouth guards try to absorb the punishment that the teeth would normally endure during bruxism and minimize the damage associated with bruxism. Prior art techniques for reducing clenching stress are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,656 entitled “Intraoral semi-custom discluder device;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,687 entitled “Performance Enhancing Dental Appliance;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,604 entitled “Low-Density Polyethylene Dental Appliance and Mouthguard;” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,978 entitled “Mouthguard and method of making,” all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties for the teachings therein.
Prior art mouth guards have been composed with materials that may be harmful to users, do not effectively prevent the complications associated with bruxism, and do not remain in the user's mouth, especially during wear at nighttime. Prior art mouth guards have been made of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) which is subject to degradation due to the user clenching and chewing on the appliance or mouth guard. Upon decomposition, EVA will break down to hazardous vinyl acetate, acetic acid, carbon monoxide and hazardous hydrocarbon oxidation products. Prior art mouth guards do not prevent bruxism; they treat damage to the teeth during bruxism. Therefore, there remains a need in the art for a safe, comfortable, and effective custom-fitting dental appliance that provides relief for the common complications associated with bruxism while relaxing the muscles so that bruxism is prevented from occurring.